Word spread quickly about what had happened. Naruto was expecting to be treated worse than usual - he'd touched, not one, but two people's daemons, and that was - you didn't do that.
He wasn't expecting to be set on by a highly-skilled ninja, and beaten almost to death.
He definitely wasn't expecting to wake up from the beating and find himself in a large dark room that looked like a cross between a sewer and a prison, with large, thick bars blocking part of it off - and a very excited daemon hovering over him in the form of a hummingbird, who was chattering eagerly, "Come on, wake up already! You've been lying here for ages - oh, you're awake. Yay!"
"Huh?" Naruto managed, sitting up. "Where am I?"
"Inside, silly," the daemon answered him, changing to an orange gecko and staring at him intently.
"Inside where?"
"Your head! Honestly, don't you recognise it?" The daemon developed eyelids just so that she could blink at him. "You don't, do you? I guess I should have realised you wouldn't, you've never really been here, and it is a bit -" she switched to a monkey, and grimaced, "ugly, because of that bastard." She waved a paw in the direction of the bars.
Something growled, deep and threatening. Naruto stared. "What was that?"
"That's just Kyuubi," the daemon said dismissively. "Don't worry about him, he can't get out as long as the seal's intact."
"Kyuubi?" Naruto almost squeaked. "But that's - the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi, everyone knows that!"
"Killed me?" A deep red glow appeared in the darkness behind the bars, and Naruto almost flinched when he realised it was an eye - an eye that was larger than he was tall. "Killed me? That little vermin? I could have eaten him!"
"Well you didn't, and he beat you, so nyah!" Naruto told it, sticking his tongue out, and then laughed with delight when he realised that the daemon had done exactly the same thing. In fact... He stared at her with slow-dawning amazement.
She giggled. "Sorry, I didn't think to introduce myself!" She shifted into a golden many-tailed fox, and spun in a quick circle. "I'm Tora, and I'm your daemon!"
"I have a daemon?" he asked wonderingly, running his hands over her fur. "Why did you just turn into a fox?"
"It's a nice shape," she told him, preening under his petting. "About the only nice thing I've picked up from him," with another dismissive wave at the cage holding the Kyuubi. "And of course you have a daemon, stupid - if you didn't, you'd have no soul! I just can't leave here."
"Why not?" he asked, upset.
"Because if I did it would weaken the seal, and that bastard fox might be able to get out." She pulled down her eyelid at the Kyuubi, who snarled, but didn't react. "A daemon's body is made of lots of energy, you know, so my body got pulled into strengthening the bars that hold him in. So I can't have a body - I mean, I can still tell what's happening outside, I just can't join in." Her ears sank, and she turned into a rabbit and jumped into his arms, hiding her head in the crook of his elbow. "It sucks," she said, voice muffled. "I hate it."
Naruto sighed and cuddled her. "Yeah. Me too." He forced himself to brighten up. "But hey, now I can come visit you! Ooh, ohohoh, did you feel it when I touched Ekusa and Raksu? Do you think I can bring them in here to meet you?" He got more excited as he thought about the new possibilities available to him, Tora similarly brightening up.
Kyuubi brought them down to earth with a sneer. "You're going to introduce them to me?"
Naruto and Tora stopped. They couldn't. Having your daemon inside your head was weird, but it would be a relief - it would prove that Naruto wasn't a monster. Having the Kyuubi in there as well?
"They'd be scared of us," Tora whimpered, becoming a mouse who ran and hid up Naruto's sleeve.
Naruto swallowed hard, as if something was stuck in his throat, and shook her out so he could hug her tightly. She turned into a bearcub and hugged him back.
They sat for a while in silence.
"I've gotta go back outside, don't I?" he asked wistfully.
Ficlet 2
He wasn't expecting to be set on by a highly-skilled ninja, and beaten almost to death.
He definitely wasn't expecting to wake up from the beating and find himself in a large dark room that looked like a cross between a sewer and a prison, with large, thick bars blocking part of it off - and a very excited daemon hovering over him in the form of a hummingbird, who was chattering eagerly, "Come on, wake up already! You've been lying here for ages - oh, you're awake. Yay!"
"Huh?" Naruto managed, sitting up. "Where am I?"
"Inside, silly," the daemon answered him, changing to an orange gecko and staring at him intently.
"Inside where?"
"Your head! Honestly, don't you recognise it?" The daemon developed eyelids just so that she could blink at him. "You don't, do you? I guess I should have realised you wouldn't, you've never really been here, and it is a bit -" she switched to a monkey, and grimaced, "ugly, because of that bastard." She waved a paw in the direction of the bars.
Something growled, deep and threatening. Naruto stared. "What was that?"
"That's just Kyuubi," the daemon said dismissively. "Don't worry about him, he can't get out as long as the seal's intact."
"Kyuubi?" Naruto almost squeaked. "But that's - the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi, everyone knows that!"
"Killed me?" A deep red glow appeared in the darkness behind the bars, and Naruto almost flinched when he realised it was an eye - an eye that was larger than he was tall. "Killed me? That little vermin? I could have eaten him!"
"Well you didn't, and he beat you, so nyah!" Naruto told it, sticking his tongue out, and then laughed with delight when he realised that the daemon had done exactly the same thing. In fact... He stared at her with slow-dawning amazement.
She giggled. "Sorry, I didn't think to introduce myself!" She shifted into a golden many-tailed fox, and spun in a quick circle. "I'm Tora, and I'm your daemon!"
"I have a daemon?" he asked wonderingly, running his hands over her fur. "Why did you just turn into a fox?"
"It's a nice shape," she told him, preening under his petting. "About the only nice thing I've picked up from him," with another dismissive wave at the cage holding the Kyuubi. "And of course you have a daemon, stupid - if you didn't, you'd have no soul! I just can't leave here."
"Why not?" he asked, upset.
"Because if I did it would weaken the seal, and that bastard fox might be able to get out." She pulled down her eyelid at the Kyuubi, who snarled, but didn't react. "A daemon's body is made of lots of energy, you know, so my body got pulled into strengthening the bars that hold him in. So I can't have a body - I mean, I can still tell what's happening outside, I just can't join in." Her ears sank, and she turned into a rabbit and jumped into his arms, hiding her head in the crook of his elbow. "It sucks," she said, voice muffled. "I hate it."
Naruto sighed and cuddled her. "Yeah. Me too." He forced himself to brighten up. "But hey, now I can come visit you! Ooh, ohohoh, did you feel it when I touched Ekusa and Raksu? Do you think I can bring them in here to meet you?" He got more excited as he thought about the new possibilities available to him, Tora similarly brightening up.
Kyuubi brought them down to earth with a sneer. "You're going to introduce them to me?"
Naruto and Tora stopped. They couldn't. Having your daemon inside your head was weird, but it would be a relief - it would prove that Naruto wasn't a monster. Having the Kyuubi in there as well?
"They'd be scared of us," Tora whimpered, becoming a mouse who ran and hid up Naruto's sleeve.
Naruto swallowed hard, as if something was stuck in his throat, and shook her out so he could hug her tightly. She turned into a bearcub and hugged him back.
They sat for a while in silence.
"I've gotta go back outside, don't I?" he asked wistfully.
"Yeah."
"I'm gonna come back as often as I can."
"I know that!"
"I'm gonna miss you."
"...Yeah."
Naruto forced himself to wake up.